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In 1803, Dornal de Guy ranked Commander and served in the flottilla at the Camp de Boulogne. On 7 August, a British brig and a cutter anchored off Boulogne; the next day, Dornal de Guy received the order from Bruix to attack the ships with five boats; due to the tides, he could sail only the next day at 3 in the morning. The British put to sail and exchanged gun fire with the boats, before retreating.[2]

In 1805, Dornal de Guy captained the frigate Félicité, in the Brest squadron. In 1806, he ferried troops, weapons and ammunitions from Brest to San Domingo, where he arrived in time to take part in the Battle of San Domingo. Félicité was among the three French ships that survived the battle, and she returned to Lorient on 26 March 1806.[3]

In 1807, Dornal de Guy was appointed captain of the Manche at Cherbourg. Along with the brig Cygne, under Menouvrier Defresne, Manche had several encounters with HMS Uranie, under Captain Christopher Laroche. On 20 June, Uranie made a luckwarm attack on the brig, to which the French harldy reacted. The incident later led to the court-martial and eventual dismissal of Laroche.[4][5]

In 1809, Manche was dispatched from Cherbourg to Port-Louis at Ile de France to replace the aging Sémillante, that had been decommissioned and sold to Robert Surcouf. Dornal de Guy arrived on 6 March, and after a one-month leave, Manche undertook her first cruise in the Mozambique Channel.[6] Along with Vénus, she took part in the Action of 18 November 1809, capturing three large Indiamen. Dornal de Guy eventually returned to Ile de France after an eight-month patrol, along with Créole and two of the prizes.